Front court frenzy, trio leads Geneva past Penn State Beaver

Beaver, PA – Geneva′s front court trio combined for 67 of the Golden Tornadoes′ 82 points in an 82-69 victory at Penn State Beaver on Tuesday night. The victory, Geneva′s third straight, moved its overall record to 4-1, while PSB fell to 2-3 on the young season.

Kyle McDermott, Greg McDivitt and Jermaine Ferguson had their way in the paint for most of the night in leading Geneva to its third straight victory. McDermott led all scorers with 30 points, while McDivitt added 20 points and Ferguson chipped in with 17 points. Even more impressive was McDivitt′s 12 rebounds and Ferguson′s nine boards. While Geneva managed just two three point field goals all night, the Golden Tornadoes got the majority of their offense in the paint and at the foul line. Geneva was an incredible 28-44 from the foul line, including McDivitt′s 14-21 effort from the line. “We really wanted to focus on getting the ball into the paint,” said head coach Jeff Santarsiero. “Those three guys all played extremely well for us tonight and we were able to take advantage of our size and score some easy baskets and get to the foul line. That team we played tonight is so improved and they worked extremely hard all night. We had to be at our absolute best to get out of here with a victory.”

Penn State Beaver enjoyed a balanced scored attack with five players reaching double figures, including a team high 12 points from Tim Kubis and Zach Fetchin.

Geneva trailed for most of the first half but was able to score eight of the final ten points before halftime to open a 43-37 lead at the break. The Golden Tornadoes could never completely pull away in the second half even after they took a 59-45 lead on a Ferguson break-a-way dunk with 13:53 to play. PSB fought back to cut the lead to seven points at the 8:25 mark. With the score 64-57, Geneva scored the next nine points capped by a Richard Colick foul shot at the 5:16 mark to open a 16-point advantage, which turned out to be the largest lead of the night. PSB could only get within 12 points and Geneva was able to put the game away to win for the fourth time in five tries this season.

Geneva will take to the road this weekend for a pair of games at the Anderson University Tournament. The Golden Tornadoes will meet Taylor University on Friday and Indiana University-East on Saturday. The Golden Tornadoes return home next Wednesday night to host long-time rival Grove City College.